"Exciting Stuff, Hunger Gamers! District Twelve Tribute, Peeta; is now making his way back to his allies, unaware that he'd being tracked. Meanwhile the Capitol Favorite, Cato; from District Two, has just received his second Sponsor Gift. Medicine, from the Capitol's finest suppliers. Claudius, tell our audience what that means?"

"Cato was exhibiting all the classic signs of concussion, Ceaser. A debilitating injury that can last for weeks, and effectively disable a combatant without causing death or paralysis. The medicine he received can counteract the effects and restore Cato to full combat readiness in less than twenty minutes."

"During those twenty minutes, he's pretty vulnerable."

"He already was, when first injured. Peeta's choice to spare Cato could prove a fatal strategic error."

"Assuming Thresh doesn't get him first."

"Hard to predict, Ceaser. Remember, Peeta's being stalked by Thresh. And District Twelve has formed an alliance with the other District Eleven Tribute already."

Peeta made his way back to the trees, and started scanning. "Prim!" He shouted.

The branches above him parted, and he saw them, well hidden, about fifty feet away. They didn't shout back, or draw attention. Peeta started towards them, not calling ahead. Shouting was risky enough the first time. Relieved, and coming down from the adrenaline, Peeta shrugged his pack off and took out his canteen. He could head back to the stream, now that he knew when the girls were.

But when he turned back, he noticed a branch move, caught off guard by his sudden turn. Peeta froze automatically, peering closer.

And Thresh rose into view, knowing he'd been spotted.

"I owe you, for helping with Cato." Thresh said seriously. "But him, you, and I are the biggest risks left in the Arena. Now or never, y'know?"

"I understand." Peeta sighed, and cast his pack aside. "I appreciate you taking the time for me to be ready first."

"I owe you. This is the most I can offer." Thresh offered politely, and charged him.

Peeta took the hit and went down, grateful that they were back on dirt instead of stone. Most wrestling matches involved fighting from the ground, and Peeta was good at it.

Thresh has about twenty pounds on me, but I've wrestled guys bigger and meaner than me since my big brothers decided I was old enough to 'play'. Peeta thought. Big tough guys all have the same weakness.

Thresh tightened his grip on Peeta's arms, but he never saw Peeta hook with his leg, and suddenly Thresh was feeling pins and needles in his neck as his arm stretched much too far. Another few seconds...

Thresh couldn't hold the pose any longer, and went down beside Peeta.

I've got him.

Peeta was up in an instant, with a knee on his throat.

In the school wrestling matches, this is the point where my opponent would slap the mat and admit defeat. Thresh doesn't have that option.

Katniss let out a whoop as Thresh went down. Peeta had him in a joint lock instantly, using his whole body weight to stretch Thresh's arm, inch by inch...

The pop wasn't audible on camera, but the roar that Thresh let out clearly was, and one arm hung limply. Peeta had Thresh pinned, using his body weight on the huge boy's throat, choking him, dislocating the arm...

But then, suddenly, Peeta let up. Thresh didn't move, but all Panem could see him breathing.

"Peeta, what are you doing?" Katniss asked quietly.

"What are you doing?" Rue asked from the treetop. She looked torn, halfway between happy and scared.

"He's a friend of yours, isn't he?" Peeta asked, getting his breath back.

"Well... yeah." Rue stammered. "There was... I mean, on the train, we kind of had a deal that we'd look after each other's families if only one of us went home." She almost giggled. "At the time, I thought that he'd be the one to win. I never thought..."

"That you'd be standing over him with a knife?" Peeta quipped. "I know what you mean. Do you want him to die?"

Rue hesitated, eyes fixed on Peeta, but her head tilted as though she could be looking at up at the sky. The cameras were always watching.

"Peeta..." Prim warned, barely audible. Don't make her say anything merciful where the Gamemakers would hear it.

Peeta let them off the hook. "So, Prim. What would Katniss do?"

Prim blinked. "Um... I don't know."

"Yes, you do. You've seen Hunger Games before. What's the High Ground in every arena?"

Prim bit her lip. "Every arena? I don't know."

"Katniss does." Peeta said with a wink to the sky. "And I bet Rue does too."

Watching in Twelve, Katniss said it in unison with Rue. "Wherever the food and water is."

"You know why?" Peeta said to Rue on screen. "It's because the Career Pack has the same weakness every year. One that we don't have." Peeta glanced upward to the cameras. "They don't know how to be hungry."

Rue stared at him. "Neither do you." She countered. "You've got muscle. That takes food. Regular food."

Prim answered that one as she climbed down from the tree. "Peeta is the Baker's kid. He eats. Anything that doesn't sell, Mama Mellark feeds to her kids. Peeta came in second last year during the Wrestling Tournaments."

"How do you know that?" Peeta asked, surprised. "You weren't there. Neither was Katniss, I don't think."

Prim grinned at him. "There were rumors all over the school that you threw the final match. Since we're all telling each other stories now..."

Peeta rolled his eyes. "First Prize was a food parcel. Equal to two Tesserae. As you say, I'm the Baker's kid..."

Prim snorted. "I'm starting to think I'm the dangerous one from Twelve this year."

"Unquestionably. But hopefully, not right now, Little Nurse." He waved Prim over to Thresh. "See to the patient."

"What is he doing?" Katniss asked blankly of Gale as Prim knelt beside Thresh.

"Taking the high ground." Gale said sagely. "He's right you know. Most games where the Career Pack lost? It's because they were either drawn away from their supplies, or were unable to hold onto them."

Prim wasn't strong enough to turn the huge teenager over, so Peeta helped her. And then with her guidance, he and Rue popped the dislocated shoulder back in.

Thresh woke up with a groan of pain, nursing the tender arm. He saw Rue and froze. "Kid?"

Rue sat beside him and stroked Thresh's hair gently. "You're okay. It's okay."

Thresh saw Peeta and jumped, rolling to his feet, and pulling Rue behind him.

"Thresh, it's okay!" Rue insisted.

"I've got a deal for you, Thresh." Peeta said gently. Hands out, no aggressive or even defensive stance. "You've gone hand to hand with me already, and lost. You know I could have done it. I didn't. Rue is vouching for me. We both want to send our fellow tributes home safe."

Thresh set his jaw. "We can't both have our way."

"Maybe not, but we can indulge enough to give each other a pretty good head start."

Endless moment.

"I'm listening." Thresh said finally.

Peeta looked to Rue expectantly. "Tell him everything."

Rue nodded. "Before I teamed with Peeta, I was watching the Career Pack. Food and water is everything. More than weapons, more than medicine. Food and water is time. They told us in the training centre that most of us would go by thirst, exposure... The Careers took all the food supplies and put them under guard in the Cornucopia."

"But little Rue here is apparently the deadliest of us all." Peeta put in grimly. "The Career Pack is down to the boys from Two and Three."

"The boy from Three seemed pretty soft..." Thresh commented. "In comparison, anyway. But if their Alliance is down to two, they won't bother entrenching. They don't have the numbers."

"They don't need the numbers." Rue told him. "When I met up with Prim, we doubled back to look. Figured we could steal some food. They found a way to defend their supplies without being there. They used landmines."

"Where the hell did they get those?" Thresh was stunned.

"The boy from Five. Apparently an electronics whiz. Enough to remove the explosives from the Tribute Pedestals." Prim told him. "We can steal the food, burn the food, blow it up if you think you can set off the mines without killing yourself!"

Thresh looked at Peeta, calculating something.

"The Career Pack has never needed to scavenge, Thresh." Peeta said earnestly. "They've always had the Starting Supplies and the biggest Sponsors. Every Games, it's been like that. Cato doesn't know how to forage. I don't know about the others who are left; but if that food is sitting there, without a guard... Prim and Rue can feed themselves better than us put together. Their odds of survival go up a lot if we take out the food."

"For one of them." Thresh countered quickly, eyes flicking to Prim quickly.

Peeta stepped a little closer to Prim. "Would you kill Prim, Thresh? Would you do that? You think I could do it to Rue?"

Thresh was unreadable, but he said nothing. "I want both of us away from the kids. This deal? One time. And it ends, the second the food is gone. So I want you far away from Rue. Just in case."

Peeta's eyes flicked to Prim. "And I want you away from Prim, when it happens. Just in case."

"That could work." Rue said quickly, very aware of the tension building. "We could light Decoy fires. If Cato's regrouping, as we think he is, he'll be with his Supplies. We can draw him off; and the more decoys we have, the better chances of success; for whoever goes."

Thresh looked at Peeta. "Which one of us goes?"

Prim went to the grass, plucked a long blade, and broke it into two uneven pieces. "Short straw goes. Long straw sets decoys."

Thresh drew the short straw.

"Setting the fires is too obvious." Gale shook his head as the plan began to unfold. "Nobody's stupid enough to light a campfire in the open. Cato's gotta know it's a trap."

"He knows. He doesn't care." Katniss said with certainty. "He knows those fires are being lit by someone, and he doesn't care who, because he's gotta go through all of them to win."

Gale nodded, realizing. "Man, he's not scared of anyone in that arena, is he?"

"He might be, if he gets hungry. Think about it. The first time Peeta and Cato fought, Cato tripped on a snare. The second time, Peeta took him by surprise and won in a fight. Next time..." Katniss pointed at the screen. "There's Thresh."

"Very, very exciting, Hunger Games fans! The Twelve/Eleven Alliance is really exceeding expectations!"

"Right you are, Ceaser. Nobody expected Mellark to be such a skilled wrestler; and certainly nobody expected little Rue to get such an impressive count. Primrose is one of the better field medics we've seen in the games for a while, and Thresh's raw panther power is… Well, okay, we all saw that coming."

"Haha! Rue's idea to start decoy fires has worked; and Cato is hunting them. His Original Alliance is down to just him and District Three Tribute, Nels- Oh! Here we go!

"Now, let's see if Thresh figures this out. Earlier in the Games, we saw them turn those pedestals into mines, to protect their food supply. Thresh has been warned of this, but it remains to be seen if he's nimble enough to avoid setting off a blast."

"I have to say, it's a sound strategy. With Glimmer and Clove out of the Games, the original Alliance Pack don't have any scroungers left. Cato hasn't snared any of the local wildlife; or collected any edible plants. His foodstuffs are limited to the Cornucopia, and whatever he takes from his victims."

"I couldn't agree with you more. In fact, if Thresh can stay out of sight from the last guard, and evade-"

"WOAH!"

"WHOA!" Katniss and Gale shouted.

Their shout was loud enough to wake Katniss' mother from her doze in the chair. "What!? What happened?!"

"Well, good news: Prim and Peeta made it to the final eight." Gale said with grim understatement.

"Seven. There was a guard at the Cornucopia." Katniss reported, eyes glued to the screen. "Where's Cato?!"

Peeta was about to light his decoy fire when he heard the blast. The shockwave of it was stronger than anything he'd experienced in the games so far. It was enough to shake the branches on the trees. The fireball in the centre of the Arena was visible from where he was.

And then the cannon went off. Once. Twice.

"Prim." Peeta whispered, and started running.

"Oh, what an upset, Panem! Rigging those explosives seemed like a great idea for protecting the food, but the blast was clearly more powerful than anyone expected. One slip from Thresh during his attack run ended the fight decisively! The judges have spent the last half hour trying to decide if it counts towards Mellark's score, still at zero. But the ruling is that Thesh has self eliminated."

"That's right, Ceaser. Self-Elimination is not that uncommon, and almost always due to poor resource management, or by accident. Not always, of course. We all remember Annie Cresta, and-"

"Wait! I have to interrupt you to go live to the Arena, where District Two's Cato is about to add another to his score!"

Prim and Rue had heard the explosion, of course. Rue looked terrified. "Thresh?"

The Cannon had gone off, twice. The little girl took it with her chin up. Prim had hugged her new friend tightly anyway. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Rue didn't respond right away. "We have to find Peeta."

"Not yet." Prim hugged her tightly for another few moments. Rue couldn't help but smile a bit and hug her back. The fireball from the blast was visible from where they were, a cloud rising to the top of the Arena, and the simulated sky. Prim's eyes flicked to Rue, to the sky; and then she raised her right hand, pressed a kiss to her three middle fingers, and hooked her thumb and little finger together. The three finger salute raised to the sky, and the fireball that was all that was left of Thresh.

"What's that?" Rue asked.

"It's something we do sometimes in my District at funerals." Prim told her. "It means 'thanks', it means 'admiration', and it means 'goodbye to someone you love'. It's an old custom." Prim shivered. "Last time I saw it, it was when my father died. The mine collapse took a number of fathers and sons. The other miners... they held the salute all night, after they called off the search for survivors."

Rue took that in and mirrored the gesture. A kiss to her fingers, a salute to the sky, both of them holding the pose for a few minutes, side by side.

"We should find Peeta." Rue said again.

Prim agreed, and they got moving.

"Prim…" Rue murmured. "How does this play out? Because…"

"I know." Prim admitted softly.

"It's not fair." Rue whispered. "Thresh was my friend. You're my friend. Peeta's my friend."

"You're our friend too, Prim. I don't want to kill you."

"Well, maybe I can help there."

The girls spun. Cato was suddenly right there, with his trademark bloodthirsty grin.

They tried to run. Cato was ready this time, one hand flashed out and caught Rue by the neck before she could get clear. He hoisted her up off the ground, one handed.

Prim was five feet away and noticed her ally wasn't with her. She didn't even hesitate to turn and charge back, knife in her hand. "Let her go!" Prim yelled.

Katniss went a little insane again. "Leave her, Prim!" She shouted at the TV, as though her sister could hear her. "Just leave her!"

"She won't." Someone said softly, and Katniss couldn't even tell who.

Peeta was running for all he was worth, scrambling past the campfires that they hadn't lit yet. "Three fires at once. Both of us away from the girls!" He raged at himself angrily. "Who thought that was a good plan?! Peeta, you idiot!"

And then, quite suddenly, he found them...

...On the ground, covered in blood.

Peeta scanned frantically. They were still alive. It had to be a trap.

"He went… for the other… other fires." Prim coughed.

Peeta swiftly understood. Cato didn't know how many campfires they'd set up. He'd left them alive so that the cannon wouldn't go off. Cato had left them to die slowly so that he could chase down where he thought Peeta was. He threw himself down between them, trying to tend to their wounds. "Prim?" He asked hoarsely. "Any advice, little nurse?"

Prim gave him a hollow look. "Just... stay?"

Peeta wanted to throw up. He could tell, just like Prim. There was nothing to be done.

Rue was shaking; moments away. "C-cold…"

Peeta wrapped both girls up in his arms as tightly as he could, as though he could hold their souls in place with his arms. "Rue…" He said desperately. "Your thing is music. Mine is painting. But I know stories, too. Let me tell you one?"

"Tell it fast…" Rue rasped with grim understatement.

"When a painter dies, they say that the gods let him paint the sky that night." Peeta said, trying madly to keep his voice even. "But the part they don't tell you is that every artist gets that. For storytellers; the gods write their story into the inspiration of someone else's tale; and for a singer; it is the birds." He held tighter as Rue started going limp. "That tune you whistled to the Mockingjays… They sang it back and forth to each other; but the cameras mean that every district heard it." The smallest tribute was going limp. "Rue, listen to me…" he said desperately. "Every Mockingjay in Panem will hear that tune, because everyone watching heard it. They'll go to the trees and they'll sing your song. Not the signal, not the coded message to us… The tune you made up on the spot; and gave to the birds. They'll sing for you, Rue. Everyone in Panem will go outside, and sing your song to the Mockingjays, I promise."

The cannon went off. Peeta kept talking anyway.

"Every Mockingjay in the world will sing your soul. Every newly hatched baby bird, every student plucking out a tune on an instrument. They'll sing for you, Rue…"

Rue was gone. Prim was moments away.

"I… I wish…" Prim was gasping. "I wish (gasp) Rue could have heard (gasp) the end of that story (gasp) she would have liked (gasp) the happy ending…"

"Yeah. Yeah she would have." Peeta said softly.

Prim reached a trembling hand to her jacket, and took off the Mockingjay pin. "Make sure they... sing for Rue back home, in Twelve. Do... that for me... Boy With The Bread."

Peeta took the pin, though he would have preferred to die himself than take it from her. "Don't… Don't die, Prim." He pleaded hopelessly.

Prim lifted her hand again, trying to make her fingers work. Peeta held her hand and helped her get there, forming the three-finger salute that they gave her in Twelve. She pressed the three fingertips to his lips. "Take car' o' Kat..." Prim rasped out; and her eyes turned to hollow glass.

Prim didn't finish. Her eyes closed. Peeta did the same, and the cannon went off.

Watching in Twelve, Katniss felt her heart stop. The Cannon had gone off, and both of the Everdeen girls had died. She felt it. Her heart had stopped beating. She didn't breathe. She felt no hunger for the first time in her life. She felt nothing at all. Her brain had switched off completely.

Mama Everdeen was sobbing in her chair. Gale was doing a slow boil, ready to explode. Katniss wasn't even aware of them, staring blankly in front of her without seeing anything.

"Katniss." Gale said with menace. "This can't go on."

Katniss didn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything. Her hearing was gone too.

Am I dead? Is that what this is? Some distant part of Katniss' brain wondered. But she didn't move. Not so much as a blink. She just… faded away to nothing; shut down.

Gale hugged her tightly. She didn't respond to it. Didn't feel it.

"Katniss? Sweetheart?" Her mother's voice came from a million miles away. She couldn't summon the energy to move her eyes to the left and look at her mother. Gale waved a hand back and forth in front of her eyes. She didn't respond to that either.

I am dead. She marvelled. I haven't fallen down, but I'm gone.

Peeta was unable to leave them. He knew he should. Cato was still hunting the campfires, unaware that Peeta wasn't near them anymore; but Peeta couldn't move. He just couldn't leave them. Either of them. "Oh, god; Katniss I'm so sorry!"

Mrs Everdeen looked at her only child. Katniss hadn't heard him. Her face was turned towards the screen, but she wasn't seeing it.

Mrs Everdeen watched Gale with open worry. Something dark and angry was growing in the young man. Something fuelled by moral outrage, the frustrations of being ground under the boot of a dictator, and now set loose by heartbreak. "This has to stop." He snarled, and she couldn't recognize his voice. "Every year, over and over. This has to stop." His eyes flashed. "And the only way it's going to stop is if somebody stops it."

For a moment, Mama Everdeen was legitimately scared of Gale. The look on his face had become downright lethal. "Gale, don't do anything you-"

But he was already gone, sweeping out of the house like a storm.

Gale stormed out of the Everdeen house and stomped his way halfway across the Seam before he became aware of his surroundings.

When he came back to himself, he noticed something. People in the Seam were leaving their houses. They looked sad, but there was something else there. A determination. They were going to the trees. Gale walked with them for a while, as they went to the Fence… and Whistled. Dozens of people, whistling four familiar notes to the trees.

One by one, they all saluted to the trees. Prim's Salute, to Rue's Echo.

On the screen, Peeta looked back up at the cameras; as if looking out of the screen at Katniss and her mother. "Gale, I know you're watching. Give Katniss a hug for me. Don't let her go. I can't do it, so you have to for both of us. Just hold on."

"He's not watching, Peeta." The older woman whispered. "Neither of them are…"

Mama Everdeen knew exactly what was happening to Katniss. She had been in the same state, once.

And Peeta still hadn't moved.

"You think this is strategic in some way?"

"I don't see how, Ceaser. We've seen Tributes break under the mental strain before. In a way, it's the most exciting part of the Games, since it's the one opponent you have to fight totally on your own; regardless of your circumstances. Mental power proves itself a factor at some point in every Games. Some of the heaviest hitters had feet of clay. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

"If Peeta's trying to play on the Sponsor's Sympathies, it's a risky gamble. It's only a matter of time until Cato realizes he already found their Rendezvous spot and doubles back. Can I ask, for our viewers, what is the policy on sending the Hovercraft if someone won't move on?"

"Procedurally, they don't send it until the Tributes have cleared the area. It's to make sure the games are fair, by not signalling to other Tributes where battle has taken place until everyone's moved away. Our hovercraft can afford to be patient, but Peeta can't. Cato's found at least two of those untouched campfires. He'll work it out any minute and double back. So if Peeta's going to move, he'd better move fast."

"Wait! Looks like something's coming his way. Looks like staying with the bodies was part of his strategy after all."

Peeta looked up at the chime, and saw the silver parachute. It landed right in front of him. Right in front of Rue.

Moving slowly, Peeta reached out and took it. Inside was a loaf of bread. Peeta knew instantly it wasn't from Haymitch. This bread was made from dark flour, and thick with seeds. It was from District 11. Also in the container was a small metal tube. It took Peeta a moment to realize it was a whistle. A signal whistle. The message was clear. They'd seen his time with Rue. They'd seen his friendship with her, and given him the way to offer something to the fallen tribute.

Peeta looked up at the sky, up at the cameras, and put the whistle to his lips. This time the musical tone was clear and strong, ringing out brightly. Peeta sounded the four note whistle that Rue had sung for them, in their little cave home.

Right on Cue, the Mockingjays answered, repeating the whistle back to him. Dozens of them. So many that the air seemed full of Rue's song. Enough that Peeta rose from his knees. "She wasn't the 'District 11 Tribute'! This little girl was named Rue!" He declared to the sky loudly. "She was smart, and she was funny, and she was fast, and resourceful; and she loved music, and she sang to the birds, just because she liked to hear them sing back!" He laid Rue down gently. "Her name was Rue, and she was wonderful!"

He turned back to Prim. "She wasn't the 'District Twelve Tribute'! This little girl was named Prim!" He said clearly, almost defiantly. "She was caring, and she was clever; and she was fearless in the face of pain. She wanted to be a nurse, and make bad things better, even in strangers, even in enemies. Everyone loved her, because she was pure." He made no effort to stop the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Her name was Prim, and she was so, so loved!"

With the eulogy given, Peeta turned to go. He held the bread close, over his heart. "My apologies to everyone who loved these girls more than I did." He called to the sky. "If it's not too presumptuous, I would weep for them with you."

He took one step away from the bodies and the tears came. But he kept moving.

Hours passed, and Katniss was numb. She didn't have enough energy to feel sad. Or hate. She wished she could. Hate, at least would make her move.

Am I breathing? I can't tell. Is my heart beating? I can't hear it.

Noises. Noises buzzing around her. Meaningless. Something pushing her. Go away, whoever you are.

Someone dumped a bucket of cold water over her, and Katniss came upright, spluttering. "What?" She demanded of Madge. "Go away!"

"It's Gale!" Madge yelled in her face, and Katniss suddenly realized she'd been yelling for a while. "He's gonna die if you don't come!"

Katniss blinked, trying to move. Every movement she made was like trying to drag herself out of a long dark tunnel. Move your left foot. Drag it through a long dark tunnel. Now move the right foot. Another long haul through a long dark tunnel…

Madge was hauling Katniss upright, pulling her along, and her feet were obliged to follow before she fell to the floor. "Come ON!"

"What happened?" Katniss asked as the two of them ran towards the Town Square.

"I saw what happened to Prim. Gale… He went berserk, Katniss. He was losing it, screaming for people to do something about it, trying to rally them. When nobody joined him, I thought he might calm down, but… He tried to torch the Justice Building."

"WHAT?!" Katniss freaked out. "Do they know it was him th-"

And then she heard it. The faint crack-crack sound that Katniss hadn't heard in person since she was a little girl. But it was a sound everyone in Twelve knew.

"Move! Move! Let us through!" Madge shouted to the crowd that was gathered around the Square. There was only one thing that superseded the Hunger Games. Only one thing that the Law required them to leave the Games Coverage for.

To watch a public execution.

Gale was bent over the fence in front of the Justice Building, bound tightly. The official whipping post had been ignored for so long that nobody bothered with it. His back had a pair of open wounds, almost the length of his spine. And the Peacekeepers, who didn't look happy about it, were still going.

Crack! The whip opened another wide line across Gale's back.

"NO!" Katniss yelled, and she threw herself forward.

Darius, the Head Peacekeeper in Twelve, was usually a forgiving sort. The kind that people had learned to live with, because he didn't want to escalate problems. He let people be, and he didn't shake people down half as much as he could have. But he wasn't wearing that casual cocky grin this time. "Stay out of this, Everdeen. You know I like you, but this one is out of my hands."

Katniss didn't move, spreading her arms wide, keeping her body between Gale and the whip.

"Katniss, you can't help him." Darius pressed. "All you can do is get yourself a spot right next to him."

"Go ahead." Katniss dared him. She wasn't bluffing. She wanted the whip. She wanted to hurt. She wanted to bleed. Prim was dead, and it wasn't right that Katniss was alive and well. The whip would be the first thing she'd feel since that Cannon had gone off. "Do it."

"Katniss, I'm not kidding. I let you and Gale slide on a hell of a lot, but violent crime is something el-"

"Do you have no idea what just happened in the Games?!" Madge demanded, stepping in next to Katniss.

"I saw. We all did." Darius looked sick about it. "And I'm sorry about Prim, Katniss. Really, I am. We all loved her. But-"

"I'm not talking about Prim." Madge said quickly. "Peeta made it to the final eight this morning. Final five now. What happens during the final eight, Darius?"

Katniss had a flash of insight. "The Interviews. With family and friends."

"With Prim being a Tribute, to say nothing of Peeta telling the world how he felt about Katniss, you can bet there's a camera crew setting up on the train right now, just for her." Madge pressed. "My father's the Mayor. He has to meet the train. They'll be here in less than twenty minutes."

"And I'm not leaving until Gale is released." Katniss said, planting her feet. "Bet the cameras would love a shot of me with an open wound across my face; thanks to your whip."

"Gale was attempting Arson of a government building, Katniss. Believe me, I'll survive."

"Will you?" Katniss asked harshly. "We let things slide too."

Darius' face changed. He was pretty lax about the Hob. He bought things all the time. Hunting was illegal, but Darius was one of Gale's best customers. All Katniss had to do was mention it on the air. "You wouldn't."

"Have I ever been mistaken for a forgiving person, Darius?" Katniss snarled. "And that was when my sister was alive to talk me down."

There was a familiar whistle in the distance. The train had arrived.

Darius's eyes shifted. The crowd was watching him now. "Three lashes. For… Disorderly conduct. Get him outta here." Darius said finally. "Everyone, get back to your homes. The Games are on. Isn't it the Law?"

The crowd quickly scattered.

Darius lowered his voice so that only Katniss could hear. "I'll put 'disorderly conduct' on the report. But if he'd actually succeeded in setting something on fire, I'd have had to shoot him. Even with the coal dust of Twelve all over it, the Capitol buildings are fireproof. Take the metaphor for a hint, Everdeen. We'll burn. They won't."

"Who's this 'they' you're talking about, Head Peacekeeper?" Katniss spat. "You 'one of us' now?"

Gale was cut free, conscious but moaning. A few people came hurrying over to help carry him. "Get him to my mother!" Katniss called. "Hurry. I can't come, I have…" She ran a hand through her hair. "God, I have an interview. How is that possible?!"

Madge almost smiled, hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry about Prim. I have some medicine… Well, my mother does, anyway. It'll help Gale. I'll bring it to your mom."

"Thank you." Katniss said faintly, feeling her head spin as the adrenaline faded. "Ohh, I'm so tired."

"Yeah. My mom's the same way." Madge admitted. "She lost her sister in the Games too, you know. The last Quarter Quell. The one Haymitch won."

Katniss blinked. "Really?" She whispered. "And she still… feels like this? More than twenty years later?"

Madge hugged her again. "Yeah."

Katniss checked the town clock. Prim has been dead for four hours. No. She thought bleakly to herself. It's been days, at least… It feels like days. Maybe even a week...

If Madge hadn't come to get me just now, I would have stayed like that that forever, trapped inside my head, living like a puppet with cut strings who didn't know to fall down.

Like mother did when dad died.

AN: Tragedy chapter this time. But necessary.

Okay, so here's my reasoning: The 'two winners' plotline was in response to the Love Story of Katniss and Peeta. Without her in the Games, it didn't track that they'd do it again. This is more obvious in the movie than the book, but I am combining them into the best narrative I can.

My main focus is keeping everyone in character. I think it's safe to give spoilers for Mockingjay at this point: When Prim died, Katniss went into a deep depression; but by then the war was over. This time around, it hasn't started yet.

Also, I didn't want it to come down to Prim and Peeta as the final two. I'm not that cruel.

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